Spare Ticket Prompts Apprenticeship Prize

A chance invite to attend the Pride In
Print Awards set Sealed Air New Zealand reel fed printer
Steven Hunter on a career path that two years later has him
named as the Print Apprentice of the Year.

Having been
offered a spare ticket to the 2012 event, Mr Hunter says the
evening “took my breath away” and changed his focus from
the industry providing him with just a job to a bona fide
career.

“For the first time in my life I had a goal,”
he says.

“Seeing the 2012 apprentices on stage opened my
eyes and set in my mind that one day I would be
there.

“My dream has become a reality. I now understand
the phrase ‘anything is possible’ and, as the great 21st
Century inspirational speaker Justin Bieber said, ‘never
say never’.

“My new goal is a tad larger, to be back
on stage receiving a print award that has been won by my
very own business.”

Sealed Air New Zealand
printing/laminates supervisor Damion Robinson says Mr
Hunter, who had previously been with the company for three
years in a less challenging role, has fully seized the
opportunity.

“Steven has shown a really great work
ethic,” he says.

“The three apprentices we have now
want to know what the bar is that he set and where they have
to go.

“Our type of business is very quality-focused,
everything is always to the enth degree and that comes
through in the training. Steven’s trainer, Wade Collins,
has put a lot of time and effort into him.”

The official
presentation of the Apprentice of the Year Award followed
the naming of the finalists and presentation of other
prestigious awards at a PrintNZ dinner held on May 22 at the
Auckland Maritime Museum.

“It is an asset to have someone who has
come through an apprenticeship and you can point to them and
say ‘hey, these are my skilled staff’. As a business
owner, I have always taken on apprentices -- there is
nothing better than training them yourself.”

“I am proud to say I’ve
just had two apprentices pass and have another five on the
books all doing really well,” he says.

“When I came to
this company, no staff were trained. In one of the
departments, generally when someone left we would need to
advertise and get someone in -- but one of the guys just
left and we took another of the guys we’ve been training
up and put him straight in. It is an awesome story.”

APN
Print New Zealand operations general manager Dan Blackbourn
sees winning the Training Company of the Year Award as
recognition of his firm’s continuing commitment to
apprentices, training and quality.

“We have just taken
on another five apprentices, so we have a big commitment to
the industry but we also want to know we are producing the
best apprentices as well,” he says.

“That’s
testimony to us having won three Apprentices of the Year and
we’ll have another exciting candidate in next year’s
awards. It’s about giving them the opportunity to improve
and develop.”

In addition to being an Apprentice of the
Year Finalist, Ms Sparrow says she was “blown away” to
be named the winner of the GAPF Scholarship as the top
Digital Processes for Print apprentice.

“I am a complete
print nerd, so to win this is mind blowing and brilliant,”
says Ms Sparrow.

“I think it becomes a passion when you
can’t turn it off, it’s with you all the time -- it’s
every billboard you see, every small sticker on a bumper
when you’re stuck in traffic -- you start analysing going
‘that margin’s not big enough’ or ‘it’s trimmed
terribly’.”

Ms Sparrow is considering spending her
$2000 prize on an overseas research trip or a Print
Management Apprenticeship.

Adhesif Labels’ Layton
Armstrong was named the winner of the Jenkins Award for the
top label printing apprentice.

“I love training and I
love learning,” he says.

“I really enjoy being
involved in a sector that is so innovative and
forward-moving. It is exciting to see that I’m involved in
something that has a future.

“There is a passion there
and every day I know that when I turn up there is going to
be something new to do. We are constantly learning and
that’s a good thing.”

Attended by 105 people, the
Awards Dinner also featured addresses by PrintNZ general
manager Ruth Cobb and Competenz strategy and trade training
general manager Fiona Kingsford, saw Mike Stevens announced
as the new print sector manager, and concluded with a speech
from former printer and Weta Workshop employee Warren
Mahy.

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